Method of treating pulp or-fibrous material and the resulting material



(Specimens.)

P. P. PHILLIPS.

METHOD OF TREATING PULP 0R PIBROUS MATERIAL AND THE RESULTING MATERIAL.

No. 355,789. A v Patented Jan. 11, 1887.

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FRANKLIN F. PHILLIPS, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE P. O. CHENEY COMPANY, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

METHOD OF TREATING PULP R FIBROUS MATERIAL AND THE RESULTING MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,789. dated January 11, 1887.

. Application filed June 5, 1886. Serial No. 204,286. (Specimens) To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN F. PHILLIPS, of Somerville, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Methods of Treating Pulp or Fibrous Material and the Resulting Material, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like letters on the drawing representing like parts.

My invention relates to the treatment of fibrous materialsuch as articles made from wood, straw, or other pulpfor the production of a hard, tough, impervious material.

The invention consists, essentially, in sat= r5 urating the fibrous material, which may be an article made of molded pulp composed of wood or other fiber, with melted wax or other analogous substance that hardens at ordinarytemperature, the saturation being effected by imzc mersing the fibrous material in the wax when in a melted condition. which I have found to give the best result, and to be the best for this use on account of its natural properties, as well as because asuf- 2 5 ficient supply can be obtained at moderate cost, is composed mainly of the residues of paraffines or petroleum products, commercially known as "wax tailings, and for the most perfect product a small proportion of palnrwax is added to the wax tailings.

In practicing the invention a sufficient quantity of wax tailings preferably with a small amount,usually about five per cent.,by weight, of palm-wax, is melted in a suitable recepta- 3 5 cle, the temperatu re required being somewhat above that of boiling water, and the pulp articles to betreated,al'ter having been thoroughly dried, are immersed in the melted wax and allowed to remain a sut'ficient length of time for 0 the wax to partially or entirely saturate the pulp. The time of immersion will 'Vary in accordance with the thickness of the pulp material. For an article like a pail, for example, about one-quarter of an inch thick, the time required is from five to ten minutes. The saturated article is then removed and permitted to cool, when it will be found to have great The hardening wax hardness and toughness and to be thoroughly impermeable to water, hot or cold, and to most other liquids.

If desired, the surface of the article may be finished by rubbing down or polishing, and the finished material will be homogeneous and of very great strength.

By the herein-described process the articles of molded pulp or other fibrous material V may be hardened and renderedimpervious in a very short time and at far less expense both for labor and material than when treated by the processes now employedsuch, for instance, as by saturation in linseed or other hardening or drying oils or analogous compounds, and subsequent bakingand finishing of the article.

The drawing shows in side elevation apail made of molded pulp hardened and rendered impervious by a saturation in melted wax in accordance with this invention.

1. The herein-described process of treating pulp or fibrous articles for the purpose ofhard- 7o ening the same and rendering them impervious, which consists in saturating said articles in melted wax tailings or analogous substance, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described process of treating 7 5 pulp or fibrous articles for the purpose of hardening the same and rendering them impervious, which consists in saturating said articles in melted wax tailings and palm-wax, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described material, consisting of pulp or fibrous material having its pores filled with hardened wax, substantially as described.

4. The herein-described material, consisting 8 5 of pulp or fibrous material that has been hardened in melted wax,substantiall y as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANKLIN F. PHILLIPS.

WVitnesses:

J os. P. LIVERMORE, J AS. J. MALONEY. 

